ADJ. /相似的/similar. People whose jobs are compara¬ble in difficulty should receive comparable pay.

compatible

ADJ. /和谐的/harmonious; in harmony with. They were compatible neighbors, never quarreling over unimportant matters. compatibility, N.

compelling

ADJ. /强制的/overpowering; irresistible in effect. The prosecutor presented a well-reasoned case, but the defense attorney's compelling arguments for leniency won over the jury.

compensatory

ADJ. /补偿/making up for; repaying. Can a com¬pensatory education program make up for the inadequate schooling he received in earlier years?

compile

V. /聚集，积累，汇集/assemble; gather; accumulate. We planned to compile a list of the words most frequently used on SAT I examinations.

complacency

N. /自满；装模作样/self-satisfaction; smugness. Full of com¬placency about his latest victories, he looked smugly at the row of trophies on his mantelpiece. complacent,ADJ.

complaisant

ADJ. /彬彬有礼；殷勤/trying to please; obliging. The courtier obeyed the king's orders in a complaisant manner.

complement

V. /补足；完善/complete; consummate; make perfect. The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese. also N.

*complementary

ADJ. /补足的，完善的/serving to complete something. John and Lisa's skills are complementary. he's good at following a daily routine, while she's great at improvising and han¬dling emergencies. Together they make a great team.

compliance

N. /顺从/readiness to yield; conformity in fulfilling requirements. Bullheaded Bill was not noted for easy com¬pliance with the demands of others. As an architect, how¬ever, Bill recognized that his design for the new school had to be in compliance with the local building code.

compliant

ADJ. /顺从/yielding. Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried that he might be too compliant.

complicity

N. /共犯，共同/participation; involvement. You cannot keep your complicity in this affair secret very long; you would be wise to admit your involvement immediately.

component

N. /成分/element; ingredient. I wish all the compo¬nents of my stereo system were working at the same time.

composure

N. /镇定，沉着/mental calmness. Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure.

compound

V. /混合；组合；增加/combine; constitute; pay interest; increase. The makers of the popular cold remedy compounded a nasal decongestant with an antihistamine. also N.

comprehensive

ADJ. /全面的/thorough; inclusive. This book pro¬vides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT.

compress

V. /压缩/close; squeeze; contract. She compressed the package under her arm.

comprise

V. /包括/include; consist of. If the District of Columbia were to be granted statehood, the United States of America would comprise fifty-one states, not just fifty.

compromise

V. /危害；妥协/adjust or settle by making mutual conces¬sions; endanger the interests or reputation of. Sometimes the presence of a neutral third party can help adversaries compromise their differences. Unfortunately, you're not neu¬tral; therefore, your presence here compromises our chances of reaching an agreement. also N.

compunction

N. /后悔/remorse. The judge was especially severe in his sentencing because he felt that the criminal had shown no compunction for his heinous crime.

compute

V. /计算/reckon; calculate. He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate. computa¬tion, N.

concave

ADJ. /空的/hollow. The back-packers found partial shel¬ter from the storm by huddling against the concave wall of the cliff.

concede

V. /勉强，让步，屈从/admit; yield. Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right.

conceit

N. /自负，自大；离奇古怪的想法/vanity or self-love; whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor. Although Jack was smug and puffed up with conceit, he was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase.

concentric

ADJ. /同心/having a common center. The target was made of concentric circles.

conception

N. /开始，构思/beginning; forming of an idea. At the first conception of the work, he was consulted. conceive,V.

concerted

ADJ. /协调的/mutually agreed on; done together. All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing. When the movie star appeared, his fans let out a concerted sigh.

concession

N. /让步/an act of yielding. Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions.

conciliatory

ADJ. /抚慰，调和/reconciling; soothing. She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. conciliate,V.

concise

ADJ. /简练/brief and compact. When you define a new word, be concise: the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember.

conclusive

ADJ .decisive; ending all debate. When the stolen books turned up in John's locker, we finally had conclusive evidence of the identity of the mysterious thief.

concoct

V .prepare by combining; make up in concert.How did the inventive chef ever concoct such a strange dish? concoction. N

concomitant

N .that which accompanies. Culture is not always a concomitant of wealth. ADJ

concord

N .harmony; agreement between people or things. Watching Tweedledum and Tweedledee battle,Alice wondered at their lack of concord.

concur

V .agree. Did you concur with the decision of the court or did you find it unfair?

concurrent

ADJ .happening at the same time. In America,the colonists were resisting the demands of the mother country; at the concurrent moment in France, the middle class was sowing the seeds of rebellion.

condemn

V . censure; sentence; force or limit to a particular state. In My Cousin Vinnie , Vinnie's fiancée condemned Vinnie for mishandling his cousin Tony's defense. If Vinnie didn't do a better job defending Tony, the judge would condemn Tony to death, and Vinnie would be condemned to cleaning toilets for a living.

condense

V. make more compact or dense; shorten or abridge; reduce into a denser form. If you squeeze a slice of Wonder Bread, taking out the extra air, you can con- dense it into a pellet the size of a sugar cube. If you cut out the unnecessary words from your essay, you can condense it to a paragraph. As the bathroom cooled down, the steam from the shower condensed into droplets of water.

condescend

V .act conscious of descending to a lower level; patronize. Though Jill had been a star softball player in college, when she played a pickup game at the park she never condescended to her less experienced teammates.condescension, N

condiments

N .seasonings; spices. The chef seasoned the dish with so much garlic that we could hardly taste the other condiments

condole

V .express sympathetic sorrow. His friends gathered to condole with him over his loss. condolence,N

N. act of facing someone or something;encounter, often hostile. Morris hoped to avoid any confrontations with his ex-wife, but he kept on running into her at the health club. How would you like to confront someone who can bench press 200 pounds? confront, V , confrontational, ADJ

congeal

V .freeze; coagulate. His blood congealed in his veins as he saw the dread monster rush toward him.

congenial

ADJ .pleasant; friendly. My father loved to go out for a meal with congenial companions.

congenital

ADJ .existing at birth. Were you born stupid, or did you just turn out this way? In other words, is your idiocy acquired or congenital? Doctors are able to cure some con- genital deformities such as cleft palates by performing operations on infants.